An Individual's Choice
by MikasaTachibana
Summary: Basically it's the same thing but Chizuru has more balls, ends up with a different guy, and may already know Kazama. They don't give a lot of room for these summaries.
1. Chapter 1

An Individual's Choice Chapter 1

'_thoughts__' _

"Words"

Chizuru's body was abuzz with anxiety. '_Why hasn't my father written back yet? Is he okay? Did something happen?__' _These were the sorts of questions racing through her head.

It had been a month since she had last heard from her father, Kodo Yukimura, a doctor studying western medicine. He had left three months prior for a job in Kyoto, leaving behind his eighteen year old daughter to look after their house in Edo. He had written to her every day for two months but one day, his letters suddenly stopped coming. At this point, Chizuru has had enough of her anxiety and decided that if her father wasn't coming back on his own, then she was going to find him and drag him back.

Chizuru had never been secretive about her personality, her likes and her dislikes, as well as her beliefs. She said the things she thought needed to be said and defended the things and people she believed in against anyone and everyone. She prided herself on her honesty even though it did get her into a bit of trouble sometimes but she would never overstep her boundaries. She had her personal space and if she wanted anyone to respect hers, she had to respect theirs. She was fairly well versed in medical procedures and standards, having learned a lot from her father. Lastly, she was fairly adequate with a short sword.

Even though had all this experience and knowledge in medicine and some fighting, she was rather inexperienced in life. That didn't mean she was blind though, she saw the way men looked at her as she walked down the street, they looked at her breasts, which weren't very big but they were the perfect size for her body at the moment, and she felt their lingering stares at her butt as she walked away. Most of all, she noticed them stare at her face for too long when she talked to them or stood near them. She had always been told that she was fairly beautiful and she appreciated their compliments but never thought much about them until just now, when she decided it would be in her best interest to travel to Kyoto dressed as a man.

That night, as she settled into her futon with a sigh, she decided that the next morning, she would be on her way.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As planned, the next morning found Chizuru up exceptionally early. She packed more than enough stuff for her journey to Kyoto, including extra bandages in case her disguise was too obvious and she had to hide her breasts. She's dressed in a loose-fitting pink shirt and grey pants, her kodashi, a short sword she had been taught to use since a young age, held by the right side of her belt. Her hair was in a ponytail, allowing her bangs to fall over her face.

After taking one last look at her childhood home, Chizuru turned and set off on her journey.

—Line Break—

The journey to Kyoto was a long and uneventful one: she slept uncomfortably in any safe place she could find, ate when she needed to, and did her business in the woods surrounding her. Overall, it sucked but at least she was finally in the city where her father should be.

Before she left Edo, she sent a letter to one of her father's friends who lived in the city, Dr. Matsumoto, asking if she could stay at his house while she was in Kyoto. She would have waited for a reply but the urgency she felt to look for her father won out in the end and she left before a reply came. She asked the people around her where his house was, hoping that once he saw her in person that he'd just let her in but according to most people, she didn't seem to be in town. Apparently, he had some business in another city and nobody knew when he was going to come back.

She sighed, defeated. She didn't have anywhere to stay and night had already crept in.

While looking for a place to stay, she ran into a couple of wandering ronin. They seemed a little unstable, wobbling on their feet and stumbling over their words. At first she was afraid that they'd seen through her disguise and would molest her but before she could dwell on it, one of the men made a grab at her kodashi, saying something about good swords being used for the country. While she was still scared, she tense shoulders sagged in relief that they only wanted her sword. When the men continued to try and grab her sword however, she ran. She wasn't going to let a bunch of drunk guys steal her sword.

Chizuru ran as far as her legs would let her but the ronin group were persistent in their pursuit of her. Knowing she couldn't run any further, she hid behind some lumber she found laying on the side of a building. The lumber encompassed both sides of her so nobody would see her unless they walked right in front of her. When she was settled, she listened to the ronin men who had apparently been stopped by some other men. They seemed to be having an argument when she heard the metallic swish of a sword being unsheathed. Many more followed.

They were having a battle, she heard swords hitting swords and heavy panting for a while before she heard one of the men scream and the unsettling sound of blood gushing out of a body. She heard a heavy thud not long after.

She heard pained moans coming from the direction of the fight before a manic cackle rang through the air. The ronin men who had first bothered her gave exclamations of confusion right before a whistling sound was heard, followed by another heavy thud. She heard this as each man fell, leaving her with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

She was paralyzed with fear, she hadn't expected to have to listen to men being killed and at this point she would rather have just dealt with the ronin herself.

At some point the screaming stopped and all she could hear was a sword slicing through the air before coming into contact with what she assumed was bloody flesh, the cackling growing ever louder with each swing.

It was only after the air had been still and silent for what seemed to her an eternity did she move from her spot. Before her eyes lay a sight she'd never imagined to see, even in her worst nightmares. Three men, wearing light blue haoris, were crouched over the bodies of the dead ronin, blood smeared all over their bodies but mostly concentrated on their hands and mouths. She watched, terrified, as they scooped up the blood from the bodies and brought it to their mouths, greedily slurping up as much as their could. She backed away slowly, hoping to get as far away from this horror show as possible but she wasn't paying attention and tripped over the lumber behind her, sending it and herself tumbling backwards. She saw their heads snap in her direction and knew she had their full attention. When the cackling resumed, her heart stopped.

As she stared into the faces of those she was sure were going to be her future killers, she could do nothing but watch as they made their way towards her.


End file.
